Well Hydrated (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: Family arrives on the island and Elizabeth and Joseph get to meet Catherine's new boss. Part 1 of the 3rd Annual REAL McRoll Thanksgiving Marathon.


_Mari & Ilna—Can't believe this is out THIRD Thanksgiving marathon. Time flies when you're having fun._

 _Sandy—You're the best._

 _REAL Worlders—I'm thankful year-round for your amazing support and enthusiasm. You guys are the best._

 _10 straight days of stories kicks off now!_

* * *

 **Well Hydrated** \- part 1 of the 3rd Annual REAL McRoll Thanksgiving Marathon.

Steve's face split into a wide grin as he looked up from his desk and saw Danny entering the bullpen chatting animatedly with Joseph and Elizabeth who were both sporting wide smiles. In a split second he was up and exiting his office.

He and Catherine had both offered to pick the travelers up at the airport but they were insistent they didn't want to be a bother and could manage by themselves. Once she realized how determined her parents were Catherine mailed them a key and let them know the alarm code so they could make themselves at home upon arrival.

"Hey, look who I found in the lobby," Danny said jovially as Steve approached.

"We were perfectly willing to wait through the security check," Elizabeth smiled as she hugged Steve tightly. "But Danny vouched for us and they let us right through."

"It's nice to have friends in high places," Joseph chuckled as he shook Steve's hand. "That partner of yours really has clout."

"Listen to your father in law, Steven," Danny smirked. "Also, get out of here and start your weekend before the phone rings or somebody comes in to see you and you're stuck here for two more hours." He puffed out his chest and smirked. "I'm going to take my very important self to my office and finish up some paperwork so I can get out of here too."

With that he turned and headed down the hall with an exaggerated strut.

Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head. "How was your flight?"

"Delightful," Elizabeth reported. "Especially the gorgeous weather when we got off the plane. It was sleeting when we left New York."

"Just think, it'll be snowman season soon," Steve grinned. "That'll be fun."

"Says the man who lives in year-round sunshine," Joseph groused good naturedly.

"Did you have any trouble with the alarm? I would have been happy to pick you up at the airport."

"No trouble at all," Elizabeth assured him, "And we know you would have but we didn't want either you or Catherine interrupting your work day."

Steve looked over their shoulders and his eyebrows knit together in confusion. "It's really great to see you both but … um … aren't we missing someone?"

"Oh no!" Joseph gasped. "We must have left Grandma Ang in the cab."

"Stop it." Elizabeth elbowed her husband. "When we got to the house Mom decided she wanted to rest up a little after the long flight. When we left she and Cammie were chatting on the deck. About baseball no doubt. She needs to recharge her batteries. She has lots of World Series highlights she wants to relive with you and Catherine."

"I'll bet," Steve laughed. "Catherine texted me right before you got here and said she only had about another hour or so of work to do. There's nothing going on here that Danny can't handle so if we leave now we can catch her before she heads home and you can see her new office."

"I bet it's strange not having her working here, isn't it?" Elizabeth touched his forearm softly.

"Yeah, it is," Steve admitted candidly. "But her new job is perfect for her and she's gonna be great at it. Chas Silver, Governor Denning's chief of staff, gave her two huge binders of information about the responsibilities of the job. Catherine has been studying them every night. She's determined to be as prepared as possible from day one."

"Of course she is." Joseph couldn't help but smile as Steve's unswerving support of Catherine. "It's not very far to the governor's office, is it?"

"Not at all," Steve nodded. "In fact, we don't even need to take the truck. We can walk over."

"Excellent." Elizabeth smiled brightly. "When the cab was bringing us in we saw a group of the cutest kids at the statue of King Kamehameha. It looked like they were getting ready to do a presentation of some kind. They were all so adorable in their little outfits. I'd like a chance to see them up close."

"Great," Steve hesitated for just a moment. "You know what … I think I'm gonna grab a bottle of water for the walk. Anyone else want one?"

* * *

"Mom. Dad. I'm so excited you're here!" Catherine said happily as she wrapped first her mother, then her father in a tight hug.

"We're so happy to see you in person." Elizabeth said excitedly. "Skype is fine but it's just not the same as getting to give you a real hug."

"We would have been here a few minutes earlier but your mother had to stop and watch some kids doing a play by the statue on the way over," Joseph teased. "You know your mother can't resist children."

"They were so adorable in their little costumes," Elizabeth gushed.

Catherine could barely keep from laughing out loud as she watched Steve take a long sip of water from the nearly empty bottle in his hand.

"Esther called and said she stopped by the house to let Cammie out and found Grandma Ang napping on the deck under the umbrella. She wasn't sure who scared who more," Catherine chuckled.

"We should have let you know she was staying there to rest," Elizabeth offered apologetically.

"No problem," Catherine waved her off. "Esther made them a snack and now Grandma Ang is telling her all about the Cubs big comeback."

Elizabeth grinned affectionately. "Does Esther even like baseball?"

"No." Catherine shook her head. "But Kamekona does so she's trying to learn as much as she can. She's probably enjoying the talk as much as Grandma Ang is."

Joseph looked at his daughter skeptically.

"Well, _almost_ as much," Catherine acknowledged.

"So, is this your new office," Joseph asked as he looked around the room which appeared to have been haphazardly furnished and could use a coat of fresh paint.

"No, this is just temporary," Catherine explained. "Lisa, Lea's outgoing chief of staff, is still working on emptying out her office and this room wasn't being used so I asked the maintenance staff if they could scrape up a spare desk and voila. I don't need anything fancy. Just a place to work. Besides, we'll be moving over to the other side of the building after Lea is sworn in. I might be able to bring you over some evening this week so you can get a peek but for right now Chas is still using it and as you can imagine they have a lot going on over there right now."

"We understand," Elizabeth nodded.

Suddenly Lea Kekoa sped into the office like a whirlwind. She pulled up short when she saw Catherine had visitors.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she said, slightly flustered. "I just wanted to see if you had those new jobs numbers for my meeting with the committee."

"Right here." Catherine handed her a manila folder. "The current numbers are on the first few pages and behind that I put charts showing the trend lines for the last five years."

Lea clutched the folder to her chest. " _You_ are a lifesaver."

"Just doing my job," Catherine smiled. "Lea, these are my parents Joseph and Elizabeth Rollins. Mom and Dad, this is the soon to be governor of Hawaii, and my boss, Lea Kekoa."

"It's so nice to meet you both," Lea said genuinely. "You have an amazing daughter. I was beyond thrilled when she agreed to come on board as my chief of staff. She's brilliant and passionate and she's going to be a great asset to the team."

"Thank you," Joseph smiled broadly. "Her mother and I are very proud of her."

"You should be." Lea wrapped an arm around Catherine's shoulders. "From the first day she came over to help me with a human trafficking case I knew she was the kind of person I'd want to work with again."

"She said the same about you," Elizabeth replied honestly.

Lea checked her watch and frowned. "I wish I could stay and talk longer but I'm five minutes late for a meeting as it is."

Elizabeth's face brightened as she got an idea. "You should come by the house tomorrow. We're having a barbecue. Very informal. Just a chance to see some people who won't be able to join us for Thanksgiving dinner and spend some time with friends. Bring your husband and children."

"I … that sounds like fun but … I wouldn't want to intrude." Lea looked at first Catherine then Steve.

"You won't be intruding," Elizabeth scoffed. "The more the merrier. Last I checked we had about thirty on the guest list."

"You're hosting a barbecue for thirty people less than a week before Thanksgiving dinner?" Lea asked incredulously.

"It does sound a little crazy when you put it that way," Steve chuckled.

"I'm afraid it's all our fault," Elizabeth placed her hand on Joseph's forearm. "We just couldn't wait to see everyone."

"What can we say," Catherine laughed. "That's just how we do things."

"Well … thank you for the invitation." Lea's smile was genuine. "We'd love to come."

"That's great." Steve clapped his hands together. "Tell the kids to bring their surfboards."

"I'll do that." Lea turned to leave. "I guess I'll see all of you tomorrow."

* * *

Forty-five minutes later Catherine pulled into the driveway and noticed a white SUV parked behind Esther's car.

"I wonder who's here?" she said as Elizabeth climbed out of the passenger's seat of the Corvette and Steve and Joseph exited the truck.

"I have no idea," Steve shrugged. "A friend of Esther's maybe?"

They made their way up the walk and seconds after they entered the house their question was answered as Joanie came barreling towards them on a dead run. Steve deftly stepped in front of Catherine and captured the speeding little girl lifting her high in the air.

"Unca Steeeeve! We're he'we!" She giggled.

"I see that!" He said excitedly as he blew a raspberry on her tummy.

"Ann Caf, save me!" she said as she laughed harder.

Mary and Aaron approached with matching smiles. "Surprise!"

"I thought you weren't coming until morning," Catherine squealed and hugged them both before stepping back as they were engulfed in hugs from her parents.

"Aawon made the plane fly early," Joan explained, her hands waving excitedly.

"He did?" Steve said with an exaggerated gasp.

"He ended up getting today off work so we caught an earlier flight," Mary clarified.

Steve looked at Joanie who was nodding as though her mother said the same thing she did.

"I'm so happy you're here!" Catherine hugged her sister in law again. "I'm sorry Aunt Deb couldn't make it."

"Me too. She's sorry she's gonna miss everyone but she made plans with some of her friends," Mary said. "She promised she'd try to get here for a visit soon."

"We'll look forward to it." Catherine pointed towards the kitchen. "Is Grandma Ang still out on the deck?"

"Yes, she is," Mary grinned. "And just wait until you see her."

They made their way out to the deck and both Steve and Catherine laughed out loud when they saw Ang, decked out in a Cubs shirt and hat holding a World Series Champions pennant in one hand and a small stuffed bear wearing Cubs paraphernalia in the other.

"Joan brought her the bear," Mary whispered. "The rest she was wearing when we got here."

Catherine immediately crossed the deck and hugged her grandmother. "I'm so happy you're here. We have so much to talk about. And of course, I want to relive every minute of that last game with you."

"You got it!" Ang grinned.

"You look more beautiful than ever," Steve said as he leaned over to kiss her.

"I have the winner's glow," she winked at him.

"You certainly do," he winked back.

"I'm gonna change clothes real quick then I'll start dinner," Catherine offered.

"Speaking of changing clothes," Steve chimed in, "I noticed a pile of suitcases in the living room."

"Those are ours," Elizabeth replied. "I hadn't asked about the sleeping arrangements and didn't want to presume anything."

"Ours are right beside theirs," Mary chuckled.

Catherine reached out her hands and Joan came immediately to her and wrapped her arms around her aunt's neck. "Same as last year. Mom and Dad, you're in our room. Grandma Ang is in Grace's room. Mary, Aaron and Joan are in Mary's old room. We put Charles' toddler bed in there."

"I wanna sleep on the cloud," Joan announced loudly.

Steve looked confused. "The cloud?"

"She was in the den earlier," Mary explained, "And oh by the way everyone, she's an expert at opening doors now so keep that in mind. Anyway, she was jumping on the air mattress and said it feels like a cloud."

"I sleep on cloud," Joanie squealed with a toothy grin.

"That's Uncle Steve and Aunt Catherine's bed," Mary reminded her daughter.

Joan's bottom lip jutted out and she looked at Catherine then Steve. "I sweep wif you?"

"Not tonight, peanut," Mary said firmly. "You need a good night's sleep after our flight. If you sleep on the cloud you'll stay up half the night playing. We have a big day tomorrow. The kids are coming over. Tonight you're sleeping in our regular room with Mommy and Aaron."

"YAY kids!" Joan raised her arms in the air happily. "I sweep wif you ano-ber night?" she asked Catherine hopefully.

"Be careful how you answer that," Mary teased. "Having a kid in bed with you isn't something you're used to."

Steve inhaled deeply. "I'm gonna grab a bottle of water. Anyone else want one?"

 **THE END**

* * *

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